Don Touhig: The House will be aware from recent Adjournment debates that military flying activity is essential if we are to maintain operational capability. However, we also take our commitment to minimise, as far is reasonably practicable, the impact of noise on local communities. We have therefore conducted a study on aircraft environmental noise. The report is today being placed in the Library of the House and is published on the Ministry of Defence website at:
	http://www.mod.uk/linked_files/dsc/env/aen_report.pdf.
	We will continue to strive for a fair balance between our need to fly and the effect of aircraft noise on local communities.

Don Touhig: The commander-in-chief, Royal Air Force Personnel and Training Command has set the chief executive of the Training Group Defence Agency the following targets for Financial Year 2005–06:
	Key Target 1
	Output—RAF Initial Flying Training
	To recruit and train the required number of Royal Air Force aircrew to the standards required for entry to operational conversion unit training and other specialist flying training courses.
	To compensate for the variations in the individual pipelines, successful achievement will be assumed if the total number of graduations is within 5 per cent. of target requirement. This KT subsumes the need for separate KTs for each of the specialisations. Individual Targets continue to be set for each specialisation for the next four years and are monitored through the Training Group Performance Management Plan.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Commissioned aircrew Outturn 5% of target requirement 
			 Non-Commissioned Aircrew Outturn 5% of target requirement 
			 Overall Outturn 5% of target requirement 
		
	
	Key Target 2
	Output—RAF Initial Ground Training
	To recruit and train the required number of Royal Air Force personnel to the standards required to undertake ground appointments.
	To compensate for variations in the individual recruiting and training pipelines, successful achievement of this target will be assumed if the total number of graduations is +/-5% of the target.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Overall Outturn 5% target requirement 
			 Officer Basic Specialist Training 5% of target requirement 
			 Airman Basic Specialist Training 5% of target requirement 
		
	
	Key Target 3
	Output—Defence Initial Ground Training
	To train the required number of Royal Navy and Army personnel to the standards required to undertake ground appointments.
	To compensate for variations in the individual recruiting and training pipelines, successful achievement of this target will be assumed if the total number of graduations is +/-5% of the target.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 Overall Outturn 5% of target requirement 
			 Officer Basic Specialist Training 5% of target requirement 
			 Ors Basic Specialist Training 5% of target requirement 
		
	
	Key Target 4
	Output—Defence Flying Training
	To train aircrew of the Royal Navy and Army to standards for entry operational conversion unit training and other specialist flying training courses, as well as providing training places for international students.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 RAF 560 
			 RN 164 
			 Army 305 
			 Tri-Service 95 
			 International 111 
			 Total 1,235 
		
	
	Key Target 5
	Output—Defence Ground Training
	To train personnel of the 3 Services to the standard required for career development and to undertake ground appointments.
	
		
			  
		
		
			 RAF 17,077 
			 RN 2,585 
			 Army 7,413 
			 Total 27,075 
		
	
	Key Target 6
	Quality of Output
	To underpin the military effectiveness of the Royal Air Force by the timely provision of military personnel trained to the standards agreed with the Agency's customers.
	Key Target 7
	Efficiency
	To reduce the average cost of training by improving first time and overall pass rates.

Caroline Flint: In the White Paper "Choosing Health" we announced the introduction of health trainers, a new type of personal health support in the public health workforce. From 2006 national health service accredited health trainers will be giving support to people who want it in areas of highest need.
	Many people have difficulty in changing to a healthier way of life. There is a great deal of advice and information available and exhortations to change often from distant national bodies and others, but equally often with little recognition of the realities of everyday life. There is support but it is patchy, fragmented and does not fit with their lives. It may be available at the wrong time of day or only accessible to people who speak and read English well, and access is unequal and erratic. Health trainers are designed to address these problems.
	Heath trainers will be visible and accessible to local people through living and working in the communities they serve providing "support from next door". They will engage local people where they are to be found, for example, mothers at the children's centre, customers at the local pharmacy, members of the tenants' association. Their task is to motivate individuals to set personal goals for improving their health, by developing personal health plans using a core set of skills based on health psychology and a good understanding of what works. They will support people to carry out their plans, for example, accompanying a woman to a breast screening appointment; encouraging a teenage mother to go to the children's centre by arranging to meet her; planning a walking route with a 50 year old man. They will identify barriers with individuals to healthier choices and help find individual solutions by listening, empathising and sharing experiences. They will be able to "signpost" people to local services that can support their healthier choices, through their detailed knowledge of the local area. Health trainers may refer individuals on, but will also encourage, motivate and support them to use what is available, for example information about the local smoking cessation service, and then go with them to the first session.
	In February the Government published the cash allocations for the NHS for 2006–07 and 2007–08 including additional cash to help to fund "Choosing Health" initiatives such as school nurses, community matrons and health trainers.
	Those in greatest need were also allocated more money. In November, the Government announced the creation of 88 spearhead primary care trusts, which are those most in urgent need of action to tackle health deprivation and reduce inequalities in life expectancy and infant mortality. These areas have received a higher level of funding than other areas, making the allocation much fairer.
	Primary care trusts and their partners, especially the spearhead primary care trusts, are planning to recruit, train, and fund health trainers from April 2006 when this funding comes on stream. In preparation for that I am announcing today 12 early adopter partnerships in 2005–06, led by the NHS, to develop and test elements of the recruitment. training and employment package and local models of service provision.
	From September, these early adopters will begin to trial a draft set of core competencies and job descriptions prepared by my department and the sector skills council "Skills for Health". The early adopters will identify suitable local people who, for the most part are already carrying out roles with some similarity to health trainers, assess them against the competencies, provide training to address gaps and then deploy them in local communities.
	During 2005–06 we will be providing all early adopters with additional funding to support them in this work and other primary care trusts with funding support totalling £5 million. Every primary care trust which expressed an interest in being an early adopter will receive £25,000 and the early adopters themselves up to £200,000. The early adopters have been selected following expressions of interest from over 130 primary care trusts and their local partners. These are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Partnership organisation NHS bodies (all PCTs except where shownspearhead PCTs in bold) Other Partners 
		
		
			 Bradford District Bradford City, North Bradford, Airedale, South & West Bradford District Health Development Partnerships Bradford Metropolitan District Council Bradford Vision Bradford Council for Voluntary Service Keighley Voluntary Services Consortium of Ethnic Minority Organisations, Leeds Metropolitan University 
			 Tameside & Glossop PCT Tameside & Glossop PCT Tameside College, Tameside 3rd Sector Coalition (local voluntary community sector organisation), vielife (limited company). 
			 SE London Health Trainers Programme South East London Strategic Health Authority Greenwich Teaching PCT, Lambeth PCT, Lewisham PCT, Southwark PCT South East London Research Support Unit / South Thames Research Network South East London Learning Alliance, London Boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, Lambeth and Southwark Voluntary Action Lewisham, Southwark Action for voluntary organisations London Open College Network 
			 Manchester North, South & Central Manchester PCTs Manchester City Council Manchester Joint Health Unit Manchester Public Health Development Services 
			 Gateshead Health Economy Gateshead Health Trainers Partnership Gateshead Primary Care Trust including the Centre for Enabling Health Improvement Gateshead Council including the Public Service Academy Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust University of Sunderland Age Concern Gateshead College Workers Educational Association North East Change Centre National Primary Care Development Team—Healthy Communities Collaborative Innovation and Development Agency 
			 Hull Health Trainer Partnership Eastern Hull Primary Care Trust; West Hull Primary Care Trust, Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust Humber Mental Health Teaching Trust The Quays, PCT Medical Services Humber Teaching PCT consortium; Hull and York Medical School Local Medical Committee—Hull City of Hull Local Strategic Partnership;Hull City CouncilH.M. Prison Hull; University of Hull;Hull College FE; Preston Road Neighbourhood Development Company Ltd Sure Start; Goodwin Development Trust Ltd; Hull Community Network; North Bank Forum; PPI forum; Hull DOC (Developing our communities); The Warren—Young People 16–25, social exclusion; Age Concern HLC 
			 Kirklees Council and Three PCTs Health Trainer Partnership South and Central Huddersfield Kirklees Council and PCTs Health Trainer Partnership NHS: South and Central Huddersfield PCTs, North Kirklees PCT Partnership: Kirklees Council and Kirklees MC Voluntary Action Kirklees South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust West Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority & Workforce Development Confederation Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Public Health Group 
			 Bristol Bristol North PCT , Bristol South and West PCT Bristol City Council University of the West of England (UWE): Faculties of Health and Social Care and Applied Sciences Black Development Agency Knowle West Healthy Living Centre Hartcliffe Health and Environmental Action Group (HHEAG 
			 Birmingham and The Black Country Birmingham and The Black Country SHA Heart of Birmingham, Oldbury and Smethwick, Rowley Regis and Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich, Walsall, Wolverhampton, North Birmingham, South Birmingham, Eastern Birmingham, Solihull, Dudley South and Dudley Castle and Beacon Sport England West Midlands West Midlands Public Health Group Sure Start Friar Park & Mesty Croft Woods West Midlands Deanery Birmingham City Council 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley Public Health Network County Durham & Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority Sedgefield, Langbaurgh, Easington, Durham Dales, Darlington, Durham and Chester le Street, Derwentside, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, North Tees  
			 Derbyshire LAA Partnership North Eastern Derbyshire, Chesterfield, High Peak and Dales, Amber Valley, Erewash , Derbyshire Dales and South Derbyshire Derbyshire County Council, Sheffield Hallam University, Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, North Derbyshire Health Promotion Service 
			 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear Public Health Network Newcastle Primary Care Trust, North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, South Tyneside Primary Care Trust, Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, Northumberland Care Trust Gateshead Community Work Assessment Consortium North East Northumbria University Primary Care Development Centre

Charles Clarke: Lord Carlile of Berriew QC prepared a report on the operation in 2004 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which I laid before the House on 26 May 2005.
	I am grateful to Lord Carlile for his detailed report and I have considered his recommendations fully. Following consultation within my department and with other relevant departments and agencies I am pleased to place my response to Lord Carlile's recommendations in the House Library today.

David Blunkett: This quarterly report is to update the House on progress of the Child Support Agency. It covers the period from March to June 2005 and contains improved management information. The last report formed part of the Government's response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee's Second Report of the Session 2004–05 and covered performance up to February 2005.
	The Agency is currently administering cases under new and old schemes, across two computer systems. At the end of June 2005, the Agency's caseload stood at around 1.4 million cases. Of these, 950,000 cases were being administered under the old child support scheme (270,000 of which were on the new computer system having migrated from the old computer system because they were linked in some way to a new application) and 480,000 were being administered under the new scheme. Around 12,000 new scheme cases are being administered clerically as they are un-progressable on the new computer system.
	Since the inception of the new scheme in March 2003 the Agency has received 680,000 potential new scheme applications, of which 420,000 have been cleared. The remaining 260,000 are at various stages of the work in progress, representing a marginal reduction since March as a result of efforts by the Agency to focus on its backlogs. In addition, there are 78,000 old scheme cases awaiting an assessment, a reduction from 130,000 in June 2004.
	In June 2005, as a result of the Agency's intervention, 390,000 parents with care (equating to 520,000 children) were in receipt of maintenance via the collection service, or had a maintenance direct arrangement in place. Despite the problems with the administration of the new scheme the proportion of parents with a new scheme calculation who receive maintenance is higher (54 per cent.) than if they had been assessed under the old scheme (46 per cent.).
	During the period March 2005 to June 2005 overall Agency case compliance remained stable at 70 per cent. This is also the case for old scheme compliance at 72 per cent. New scheme compliance, at 66 per cent. in June 2005, has risen from 61 per cent. in June 2004.
	As a result of initiatives rolled out since autumn 2004, we are seeing real improvement in case compliance for those cases for which maintenance was calculated from September 2004 onwards. The overall new scheme compliance rate was 66 per cent in June 2005, and, for those new cases calculated in February 2005 (the latest month for which compliance has begun to stabilise for new cases), compliance had reached 78 per cent.
	Trends in cash compliance performance are broadly flat over the period, with overall Agency performance at 69 per cent. in June 2005. Old and new scheme performance was 72 per cent and 62 per cent respectively with new scheme performance having improved from 50 per cent in June 2004.
	During the quarter ending June 2005 the Agency collected maintenance arrears equivalent to 35 per cent of the total amount of unpaid regular maintenance which accrued over the same period. Performance across the quarter has remained unchanged for the old scheme at 40 per cent, with new scheme performance demonstrating further improvement from 22 per cent to 27 per cent (having already risen from 15 per cent in June 2004).
	Accuracy performance is measured cumulatively month-on-month throughout the year. Figures based on the first results of 2005–06 show performance to June of 82 per cent for new scheme and 75 per cent for old scheme.
	Whilst we have seen continuing progress some significant problems remain with the new computer and telephony systems and these continue to slow progress on business recovery. The Agency is working closely with EDS to resolve these problems and further IT releases were successfully implemented in December 2004 and May 2005.
	We have always said that no decision will be taken on when to convert old scheme cases until we are confident the new scheme is working well. A new chief executive was appointed in April this year and he has initiated a strategic review of the Agency's objectives and operational arrangements. He will report to Ministers in the coming months and we will report to the House in due course.
	
		Summary of Agency Performance to June 2005 Table 1—Agency Performance—New applications intake, clearances, work in progress
		
			 New Scheme January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 Scheme to Date—June 2005 4 
		
		
			 Intake 22,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000 682,000 
			 Clearances:  1  & 3 16,000 19,000 24,000 24,000 27,000 26,000 419,000 
			 Work in progress  2 259,000 265,000 266,000 267,000 265,000 263,000 263,000 
			 Clearances as % of intake 69% 78% 95% 97% 108% 106% 60% 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. A case is defined as cleared if:
	a maintenance calculation has been carried out and a payment arrangement between the parent with care and the non resident parent is in place;
	the case has been closed because the PWC is claiming Good Cause or is subject to a Reduced Benefit Decision; or
	the application is identified as being a change of circumstances on an existing case.
	Further changes in the definition of a clearance may be made as further progress is made with the improvement in management information.
	2. Previously, a case was defined as cleared when it had been closed or a maintenance liability had been calculated. Improvements in management information now enable the Agency to extend the definition as described above, and thereby provide a more accurate picture of the Agency's intake and volumes of new applications work in progress. Further changes in the definition of a clearance may be made as further progress is made with the improvement in management information.
	3. Figures exclude cases which have been progressed and cleared clerically. This is because it is not possible to determine how many clerically progressed cases are still included in the Agency's work in progress, or were originally included in the intake figures. Details of clerically progressed cases are included below:
	
		
			 Scheme to June 2005  
		
		
			 Applications Cleared 6,000 
			 Maintenance Calculations 5,000 
			 Closures 1,000 
		
	
	4. While we can give accurate scheme to date information, it is not currently possible to break this down into a monthly time series prior to January 2005 as work to produce this information is still in progress.
	
		Table 2—Agency Performance—Compliance, Arrears & Accuracy
		
			  June 2004 September2004 December 2004 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 
		
		
			 Case Compliance  1
			 Overall Agency 71 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 
			 New Scheme 61 per cent 62 per cent 64 per cent 66 per cent 66 per cent 66 per cent 66 per cent 
			 All Old Scheme 73 per cent 73 per cent 72 per cent 72 per cent 72 per cent 72 per cent 72 per cent 
			 Cash Compliance 1
			 Overall Agency 68 per cent 66 per cent 67 per cent 70 per cent 69 per cent 69 per cent 69 per cent 
			 New Scheme 50 per cent 52 per cent 55 per cent 61 per cent 60 per cent 61 per cent 62 per cent 
			 All Old Scheme 71 per cent 70 per cent 70 per cent 73 per cent 73 per cent 72 per cent 72 per cent 
			 Quarterly Arrears
			 Overall Agency 30 per cent 28 per cent 29 per cent 34 per cent 34 per cent 34 per cent 35 per cent 
			 New Scheme 15 per cent 16 per cent 18 per cent 22 per cent 22 per cent 24 per cent 27 per cent 
			 All Old Scheme 35 per cent 33 per cent 34 per cent 40 per cent 40 per cent 39 per cent 40 per cent 
			 Accuracy 2
			 New Scheme  83 per cent 78 per cent 75 per cent  88 per cent 82 per cent 
			 All Old Scheme 84 per cent 80 per cent 80 per cent 78 per cent  79 per cent 75 per cent 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Compliance is measured over a quarterly period as opposed to monthly, as it is a less volatile measure of performance in that it smoothes out the impact of events such as bank holidays, late payments and processing details. These figures may be subject to change as more reliable information becomes available.
	2. There are no figures for new scheme for June 2004 or for new and old scheme in April 2005 because no accuracy checks were performed during that month. Accuracy across old scheme cases on both systems has been recorded only since May 2005. Prior to May 2005, accuracy was measured only against those old scheme cases on the old computer system.